AKLA Rises: From Los Angeles Experiment to a Multi-City Teen Fellowship

# What AKLA is and why it started A few years ago AKLA began in Los Angeles as an experiment: what if Jewish encounters for early teens looked less like synagogue or classroom and more like an adventure? The program asks a practical question — how to make Jewish identity feel interesting to 12– to 14-year-olds — and builds activities around that question.

AKLA is a free, five-week fellowship aimed at pre- or post-b'nai mitzvah teens. It is deliberately small by design. The program's leaders say the point is not to prescribe beliefs or practices. Instead, they introduce teens to Jewish and Israeli innovations, cultural stories and professional fields that many participants haven't seen connected to Jewish life.

# How the program works Sessions blend workshops, guest speakers, hands-on learning and visits to institutions with Jewish ties or examples of Jewish and Israeli innovation. Examples of program elements reported in the profile:

• Virtual-reality experiences, such as meeting a historical figure like Albert Einstein.
• Demonstrations of technology and engineering, including drone showcases and learning about Israeli water tech.
• Hands-on health training, for instance CPR practice at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Visits in Los Angeles have included Cedars-Sinai, the Skirball Cultural Center, the Jewish Journal, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios.

# Who runs AKLA and where it's grown AKLA's co-founders include Tonia Barber (executive director) and Jeff Polak (president and co-founder). Barber describes the program as nonreligious and nonpolitical: a celebration of accomplishments and contributions rather than a lesson in ritual or doctrine.

After launching in Los Angeles in 2022, AKLA expanded to Chicago and New York. Chicago's program was developed in partnership with the Jewish United Fund (JUF) and includes visits to places such as Wrigley Field, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and the Adler Planetarium, plus Jewish learning connected to the Illinois Holocaust Museum's downtown pop-up.

New York offers a packed one-day event for a slightly older age group timed to coincide with a Los Angeles cohort.

# New funding and the next city

# Why the approach matters for teens AKLA targets an age when many young people start shaping their long-term relationship with Judaism. By connecting Jewish identity to careers, inventions and cultural work teens already recognize, the program aims to create curiosity and pride without requiring any particular observance level.

# Practical takeaways for parents and community organizers

• Expansion has proven workable: Chicago required local partnerships (JUF) and tailored visits to local institutions, a pattern likely to repeat in future cities.

AKLA's growth shows a deliberate strategy: keep cohorts manageable, focus on experience-driven content, and partner locally to translate the LA model into new settings.